Washington, A US jury has found Nepali-American Naresh Bhatt guilty of murdering his wife, hacking her body into pieces and disposing of it in a landfill in 2024.
Bhatt, in a surprise testimony last week, admitted before the jury that he had dismembered and disposed of the body of his wife, Mamta Kafle.
However, he insisted that he did not kill his wife, but found her dead from an apparent suicide.
On Tuesday, jurors found Bhatt guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of his wife, defiling and concealing her body.
"This verdict represents an important measure of justice for Mamta Kafle Bhatt, whose life was tragically taken and whose family has endured more than two years of unimaginable pain and uncertainty," Amy Ashworth, Attorney of the Commonwealth of Virginia, said in a statement on Friday.
"The defendant murdered Mamta Kafle, the defendant dismembered Mamta Kafle, and the defendant got rid of her like garbage," Senior Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Sarah Sami said.
Kafle's body was never found after she disappeared from their Manassas Park home in July 2024.
"He gave her a final resting place in the landfill in Luray, Virginia. Mamta will always be missing for that family there," Sami said.
{{/usCountry}}"He gave her a final resting place in the landfill in Luray, Virginia. Mamta will always be missing for that family there," Sami said.
{{/usCountry}}Bhatt faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison for the first-degree murder conviction. The other convictions of concealing and defiling a body carry up to five years each. Bhatt is set to be sentenced on March 12 next year.
Bhatt was an automated logistics specialist in the Army Reserve from June 2017 to February 2024. He had no deployments, and Army Public Affairs said he left the Army with the rank of specialist, Fox5 reported.
It said Bhatt was hired as a police recruit and was dismissed from the department after 22 days at the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy.
He began his employment with the Department on June 22, 2020.
He was onboarded ahead of academy commencement. On Oct. 26, 2020, Bhatt transitioned to a police recruit but was unsuccessful in fulfilling the requirements of his role and was subsequently dismissed from the Department on Nov. 16, 2020, the Fairfax County Police Department told FOX 5.
Kafle worked at a medical centre in Manassas, Virginia, as a registered nurse. She was 28.
In his testimony, Bhatt said that he found the body of his wife on July 30, 2024, in their primary bedroom.
Bhatt testified that he dismembered and disposed of his wife's body over the next day and a half inside the trash bags at their home.
Bhatt later disposed of the trash bags in different dumpsters.
During the course of the trial, Bhatt recounted his upbringing in Nepal, the experiences that shaped his life and travel to the US in search of better opportunities.
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